Making contract schedule project specific (IR35)

[Mr_Z]

Hi
I'm currently defining Services Provided as part of the schedule attached to a new contract.
I'll be managing a clearly defined set of projects and have asked the Agency to name these projects specifically in the contract schedule rather than calling the Services "Project Manager".
It occurred to me that it may be possible to get too explicit here. My contract is for several months and i although I dont expect to be asked to manage any other projects or get shifted without agreement onto managing another project, its impossible to say at this stage and opportunities may come up that i want to agree to.

If this was the case, could it be argued for IR35 that control had been exercised and my original services had changed unduly? Would it be better to keep the Services generic enough for this not to be the case?

I've had my contract/practices reviewed btw and passed, but as ever trying to cover as many bases as possible
thanks....

[FarmerPalmer]

If I get asked to something other than that defined on my contract I respond via email stating that this service can not be performed as it is outside the current scope of our existng contract for services and can not be performed. However my company is open to discuss any additional services and have the contract amended on agreement. I've found that doing this, means that I don't get asked to do odd jobs at short notice as they would a permanent member of staff, and can get on with the projects listed, unless a new higher priority project comes in, in which case, a discussion of the requirements and a contract amendment is usually forthcoming.

[jamesbrown]

There's no "correct" answer to this really. Certainly, have a schedule of work and deliverables for each project, but don't define them so tightly that they're inflexible to the realities of project work. Also, don't let the IR35 tail wag the corporate dog. If there are small things that arise that you deem to be important for the project, but are not defined in the schedule of work, you certainly don't want to be bringing out your contract each time; that would be laughable. There are instances where you may want to scope future work without billing or to bill for work that was not tightly defined in the schedule but you deem to be necessary for the project; this can even be a positive pointer from an IR35 perspective. However, when the control is coming from the client side and involves pushing you around projects at their will or working on projects than are not in the schedule of work, that is a different matter. In that case, just have an over-arching contract to which you can add a new schedule of work when new things come up.